Some Training Camp Notes

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I attended training camp today. I'll try to post what little details stuck out to me. It is impossible to watch everything going on so I'm sure I missed tons of stuff. If enough guys post we can compare notes and fill in any blanks.

-Big Crowd today

-Hot but certainly bearable. The home side of the Stadium was mostly shaded

-#7 spend most of his time handing off to D-LO and Stew whom were working with the o-line. He got a few throws in at the end of the segment but mostly just handed off.

-LaFell had one drop. But hey it was just one.

Special Teams:

-Armanti Edwards, Brandon LaFell, Joe Adams, Michael Avila, and Brenton Bersin all returned punts. Captain Munneryln fielded a few before practice but I did not see him field any in team drills. Joe Adams is fearless, had one punt drop but looked like he had a plan when he caught the ball. Bersin doesn't look very athletic but he fielded his punts well, LaFell did a fine job as well.

-Thomas Davis saw quite a bit of special teams work and showed leadership getting on Joe Adams for his drop

OLine Drills:

-Probably the least interesting drills imaginable so I just took a picture of the starters.

No surprises there.

Team Drills (DEF VS. OFF):

-No Pads today, some light contact but very few hits

-The offense spent most of the night in a 3 receiver set with 1 TE and 1 RB

-The three 1st team receivers were Steve Smith, Seyi Ajiritutu, and Brandon Lafell

-When the offense wanted to go 5 wide they would motion the running back out rather than bring on another WR

-Steve made contact with Charles Godfrey and gave everyone a scare. He took a few plays off but was back

-While Steve was recovering Armanti Edwards took his first team snaps

-Cam Connected with Steve a ton, hit other guys as well but mostly Steve

-Luke Kuechly picked off Derek Anderson. It was a little slant pattern to a TE I believe and Kuechly jumped the route.

-Greg Olsen made several nice catches over the middle

-Armanti caught a bunch of passes. Nothing special but he didn't look out of place

-I didn't see the entire play but Cam was picked off by Sherrod Martin

-Ajiritutu and Cam had some miscommunication on a route that ended with a pass to no one. Ugly.

-Steve did burn Josh Norman down the sideline. After all, it's not Coastal Carolina.

-Josh Norman drew Beason's fury after a receiver made a play on him

-Cam was picked off by Sione Fua on an ugly check down

-#66 Roger Allen lined up as the second team center. He hiked the ball on a shotgun play and it rolled to Derek Anderson's feet. On the very next rep #7 fumbled his snap under center

-The Panthers did a little read option and it always seemed to work. Hard to gauge running plays without live hitting. I think it was #83 Louis Murphy that carried a read option end around. It did not go well.

-Beason and Thomas Davis appeared to be first team nickel linebackers. James Anderson and Luke Kuechly were second team of course

-Sherrod Martin got the lion's share of first team FS. #43 Nakamura got some 1st team snaps. #31 Reggie Smith appeared to be 2nd team only

-Josh Norman def appears to be the guy they want to win 2nd CB. They worked him a ton today with mixed results.

Line one on one Drills:

-Hard to see all of this action as there were many big men blocking view.

-The one thing I did see was #68 Andre Neblett really work over #61 Amini Silatolu. 61 didn't necessarily lose but he was barely holding on vs. Neblett's quickness.

Cam Newton drops back, pauses, takes off, so big and so fast, attaining speed so easily, and finally runs out of bounds. Fans go nuts. He smiles and raises his left arm to acknowlege them. They go nuts again.

Darvin Adams makes a nice catch of an overthrown pass, bringing the ball in with one hand. I knew Auburn guys could throw. They can catch, too.

Four fans show up for practice at 10 a.m. 8 1/2 hours before practice. They wanted a front row seat. They got one.

One fan -- not one of the four -- brought a grandfather clock. The message? It's our time. My message? What do you do if it rains?

Seyi Ajirotutu makes a nice grab over the middle. I think Seyi is a good guy, but I wish somebody else had made the catch. Somebody with, I don't know, a name I could spell.

Rookie linebacker Luke Kuechly picks off Derek Anderson. Welcome to the NFL. Based on what I saw in the camps at Charlotte, Kuechly has a gift for knowing where to be.

Fans Saturday night include the basketball playing Currys, Stephen and Seth.

Steve Smith grabs the ball over the middle in front of Captain Munnerlyn, Captain runs him out of bounds and Smith gives the Captain a little shot. The Captain immediately returns it.

At 7 p.m., 30 minutes into practice, fans let loose with their first boos of the season. Olindo Mare misses a field goal from 43 yards, hits the right upright. Fans are merciless. It's like October.

There's a crowd and there's a ball and who comes down with it? Armanti Edwards does. Nice work. Edwards is all-Spartanburg, all-South Carolina, all-training camp, always.

Panther owner Jerry Richardson drives across the sidelines on a golf cart. He's upbeat, optimistic and old-school. He asks how you're doing and then asks how your family is. Nice.

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Hokebuck

SPARTANBURG, SC --- The Carolina Panthers opened their 2012 training camp Saturday night at Wofford College with excitement, intensity and some interesting notes.

Second-year head coach Ron Rivera made no bones about rookie linebacker Luke Kuechly after practice, saying the former Boston College Eagle is much further advanced than almost any first-year player at the position he's ever seen.

Kuechly is starting at outside linebacker, but played in the middle with second team during the workout calling plays sent in from the sideline. He averaged 16 tackles a game playing inside for BC last season.

Here are some other observations from the Panthers' first practice:

*16th-year placekicker Olindo Mare missed a 44-yard field goal attempt fairy early in practice resulting in a chorus of boos and cat calls from many of the 13,000 fans in attendance. Mare's kick clanked off the right upright. Several minutes later, however, he connected two from 50 yards that had plenty of room to spare. No boo birds on those boots.

*Cam Newton found veteran Steve Smith for a beautiful 37-yard touchdown pass that drew quite an ovation from the crowd. Smith beat rookie cornerback Josh Norman from Coastal Carolina on the play.

*Kuechly had one of four interceptions on the night. He picked off veteran backup Derek Anderson and quickly had a head of steam moving up field.

*One of the other picks by the defense came when second-year defensive tackle Sione Fua (6-foot-1, 310 pounds) snagged an errant toss by Newton at the line of scrimmage and began rumbling forward. As he did that, many of his teammates, at least the ones that weren't laughing too hard, hollered at him, saying stuff like, "Damn, big man, run."

*Rookie receiver and kick returner Joe Adams has seemingly limitless potential as a return man, but he also came to camp carrying a bit of a reputation for his tendency to fumble the football when in college at Arkansas. While he made numerous nifty moves on the night, Adams did drop one punt.

*Panthers' owner Jerry Richardson rode around in a nifty golf cart, talking to some fans, the media and posed for a few photos.

*Newton pleased some fans when after breaking off a long run up the left sideline late in the workout, he stopped, looked the stands and then tossed the ball into the crowd. Later after practice, sections of fans chanted his name, and the Rookie of the Year last season eventually made it to each section.

*Former Davidson star and current Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry and his brother Seth, who plays for Duke, were on the sidelines for the entire practice. They even stopped to pose for a few pictures. When asked how he was doing, Seth said, "Good, good."

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Sounds like its going to be a journey to Silatolu. The coaching staff is really trusting him to develop quickly, and be the starter despite the early struggles. Hopefully he grows in strides the training camp and preseason. He can be a difference maker with those physical abilities.

SPARTANBURG, SC --- The Carolina Panthers opened their 2012 training camp Saturday night at Wofford College with excitement, intensity and some interesting notes.

Second-year head coach Ron Rivera made no bones about rookie linebacker Luke Kuechly after practice, saying the former Boston College Eagle is much further advanced than almost any first-year player at the position he's ever seen.

Kuechly is starting at outside linebacker, but played in the middle with second team during the workout calling plays sent in from the sideline. He averaged 16 tackles a game playing inside for BC last season.

Here are some other observations from the Panthers' first practice:

*16th-year placekicker Olindo Mare missed a 44-yard field goal attempt fairy early in practice resulting in a chorus of boos and cat calls from many of the 13,000 fans in attendance. Mare's kick clanked off the right upright. Several minutes later, however, he connected two from 50 yards that had plenty of room to spare. No boo birds on those boots.

*Cam Newton found veteran Steve Smith for a beautiful 37-yard touchdown pass that drew quite an ovation from the crowd. Smith beat rookie cornerback Josh Norman from Coastal Carolina on the play.

*Kuechly had one of four interceptions on the night. He picked off veteran backup Derek Anderson and quickly had a head of steam moving up field.

*One of the other picks by the defense came when second-year defensive tackle Sione Fua (6-foot-1, 310 pounds) snagged an errant toss by Newton at the line of scrimmage and began rumbling forward. As he did that, many of his teammates, at least the ones that weren't laughing too hard, hollered at him, saying stuff like, "Damn, big man, run."

*Rookie receiver and kick returner Joe Adams has seemingly limitless potential as a return man, but he also came to camp carrying a bit of a reputation for his tendency to fumble the football when in college at Arkansas. While he made numerous nifty moves on the night, Adams did drop one punt.

*Panthers' owner Jerry Richardson rode around in a nifty golf cart, talking to some fans, the media and posed for a few photos.

*Newton pleased some fans when after breaking off a long run up the left sideline late in the workout, he stopped, looked the stands and then tossed the ball into the crowd. Later after practice, sections of fans chanted his name, and the Rookie of the Year last season eventually made it to each section.

*Former Davidson star and current Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry and his brother Seth, who plays for Duke, were on the sidelines for the entire practice. They even stopped to pose for a few pictures. When asked how he was doing, Seth said, "Good, good."

Props on your sig video.

Sounds like its going to be a journey to Silatolu. The coaching staff is really trusting him to develop quickly, and be the starter despite the early struggles. Hopefully he grows in strides the training camp and preseason. He can be a difference maker with those physical abilities.

Man, I hope you're right. As good as I think we're going to be, I know we'll only be as good as our weakest player on the field. That being said, the play of Amini Silatolu and Josh Norman might determine the outcome of some games, for the better or worse. As hopeful as I am that Amini will be great, I'm worried there'll be moments next season that'll have us missing Wharton.